The mother of a 16-year-old girl gunned to death in mistake for her boyfriend in a gangland shooting has said that justice must be done for her daughter.

Melissa McNamara said the killer of her daughter Melanie McCarthy McNamara “needs to be tortured for the rest of his days.”

She referred to one of the chief suspects in a heartbreak series of messages posted online: “That scum that took you from me has a daughter. What way would he feel if someone killed her?

“We all know that she will grow up without her daddy because I have faith in the police and I know justice will be done for you and I hope he rots in there. I hope that what has happened to you helps change the law – life for a life.”

She added in the Facebook site set up to honor Melanie, “Prison would be too good for him. He needs to be tortured for the rest of his days, the smack head.”

Melanie, who was just two weeks short of her 17th birthday, died last week after she was shot in the face in a car in Tallaght, Dublin.

The botched attack by two gunmen in their early twenties happened just as the car was shunted forward and the bullet hit Melanie in the back seat instead of her 21-year-old boyfriend Christy Moran who was sitting in the front.

________________

Read More: 

Bizarre as Irish burglar receives $225,000 compensation from his victim in compensation claim

Two Irishmen shot in suspected murder-suicide over love affair in Indianapolis

‘We’ll put a bullet in your brain’ - Irish politician Aodhan O Riordain receives racist hate mail

________________

The panicked gunmen abandoned their getaway SUV moments later and fled without taking time to burn it. Gardai (police) recovered the murder weapon, balaclava and a pair of gloves near the scene.

They have gathered a wealth of clues at the scene and believe they know who they are looking for.

The gunmen fled into hiding, fearing a revenge attack on them from the criminal underworld as much, perhaps even more, as capture by the police. The leading suspects were already on the run, having failed to answer bail in court on previous offenses.

A source close to the police hunt for the killers said, “The pair are in terror as their own associates, including their boss, want to silence them before any arrests are made. He blames them for leaving evidence behind them and reckons they could cooperate if caught.”

Both Melanie and her boyfriend have links to the McCarthy/Dundon criminal gang in Limerick, several of whose members are already in jail for participation in violent feuds.

Gardai emphasized that Melanie, who was engaged to be married to Moran in six months, had no criminal record and she was an innocent victim.

Michael Moran, father of Melanie’s boyfriend Christy, appealed for no reprisals.

“Leave it in the hands of the Gardai. There should be no reprisals,” he said.

A 20-year-old hardened criminal, who is the suspected leader of the gang that shot Melanie but did not take direct part in the murder, is a key figure in the escalation of a feud with settled travelers which has developed over the past five months.